Project Overview Peter Napier, EVLA Project Manager

1
Project Overview Peter Napier, EVLA Project
Manager

• Status 2003 Committee Response

2
Status

• Activities since last meeting
• EVLA Test Antenna (13)
• Prototype system. First light and fringes at
  X-band and L-band
• Continuing addition of capabilities (eg time
  synchronization, fringe rotation)
• Debugging and testing slower than expected
• Robustness of prototypes, complexity of
  equipment, reduced monitor data, AOC-VLA
  separation.

3
Status (cont)

• Second EVLA Antenna (14)
• Second generation prototypes. First EVLA-EVLA
  fringes.
• Came to life much more easily than 13
• Production-like modules early 2005
• Third EVLA Antenna (16)
• Undergoing EVLA structural modifications
• First production modules

4
Status (cont)

• Lab test system
• Mockup of antenna electronics system established
  in AOC lab.
• Production orders
• Lifetime supplies of adequately tested components
  being ordered to prevent obsolescence problem and
  reduce cost (eg DTS chips, cryo-refrigerators,
  feed support structures, antenna HVAC,
  synthesizer YIG oscillators).

5
Status (cont)

• Correlator
• Chip contract in final process
• Prototype board construction beginning
• Software
• Monitor and Control (M/C) keeping up with
  antenna test needs, working on transition
  software.
• e2e EVLA overall software design completed
• AIPS passed ALMA acceptance test, EVLA
  specific tasks begun.

6
Status (cont)

• Design Reviews Completed
• Overall software design
• M/C hardware and IF/LO/FO CDRs
• Correlator PDR, Feeds, FE and software CDRs
  planned

7
2003 Committee Response

• Last meeting 30 Sept., 2003. Project Response 4
  Nov., 2003.
• Management Issues
• Schedule delay. Recovery plan in place (see
  schedule presentation)
• Hardware Issues
• Location of FE hybrids. Detailed study concluded
  no change.
• Calibration of solar data. Calibration procedure
  devised.
• Dual LO phase stability test. Not yet achieved.
  Effort had to be used for synthesizer
  improvements, fringe rotation, temperature
  chamber phase stability tests.

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2003 Committee Response(cont)

• Obsolete electronic components. So far sufficient
  funds available to buy lifetime supplies of
  critical components.
• Correlator
• Chip schedule contingency. Study contracts with
  two vendors completed, detailed chip CDR planned
  ( Jan 2005).
• Correlator software definition and management.
  Software specification documents in place, some
  NRAO programmers under HIA direction.
• Simultaneous observations with EVLA, NMA and
  VLBA. Funds in Phase II budget for additional
  programming effort

9
2003 Committee Response(cont)

• Correlator
• Pulsar Observing. Supported by WIDAR correlator
  and correlator backend design.
• Software
• NRAO/EVLA computing management structure. The
  structure has worked all EVLA software under
  single lead. Major issue now is not management
  but resource availability. NRAO Director intends
  to appoint NRAO-wide Software Leader (Ulvestad
  talk).
• VLA and VLBA observers should use AIPS. Not in
  current short-term plan, although VLA data is
  used for testing.
• An algorithm development group is needed. A group
  is now functioning. (See Bhatnagar talk).

10
2003 Committee Response(cont)

• Software
• Need for overall EVLA Software System Design.
  Completed, (see Van Moorsel talk),
• AIPS performance, robustness and interface.
  Significant improvements and plans. (see
  Myers/McMullin talks).
• Need for User and Scientist involvement in
  testing. Good involvement in AIPS testing.
  Concern over resource availablity for EVLA
  software commissioning (see Owen talk).
• RFI
• Design for RFI excision. Significant module
  testing for self-generated RFI, no obvious
  problems on test antenna. Headroom specification
  revisited OK. Hooks for high time resolution
  data from samplers and total power detectors in
  place to allow auto-flagging.

11
2003 Committee Response(cont)

• RFI
• Need for Algorithm Development. New AIPS
  autoflagging algorithm, new excision algorithm
  (EVLA Memo 86) developed.
• Phase II Issues.
• Submit proposal ASAP. Proposal submitted April
  2004. NSF Review underway. (see Perley talk)).
• Include low frequencies if possible. Low
  frequencies removed from this proposal because
  technical concept not sufficiently developed.